Crystal River Springtime

Report Date: April 2, 2011

This is the time of year we all love. Most of the cold fronts are history. The water is warm. The sun is shining and the fish are biting. Almost all species of fish that inhabit the flats along the gulf coast are here and active. Only tarpon will wait for another month before they arrive on their annual trek northward.

Sea trout fishing has been very good with fish up to 24 inches taken this week. Most are being caught on jigs but some are still catching them on live shrimp floated under a cork. I have found that the trout seemed to have shifted their preference from New Penny GULPs to the Natural color GULP. I think it resembles a baitfish more and with more bait arriving each week the trout may be changing their diet. Who knows why fish do what they do?
Spanish macks are all over and providing lots of action for anglers using live shrimp in about 8-10 feet of water. Spoons and jigs will also catch them by the boat load but be prepared to lose lots of lures. Even with a wire leader you will get cut off a lot when the macks bite at the leader knot or swivel.

Redfish action has improved this month and will continue to do so as the water gets warmer. You must keep moving in order to locate fish. This week I stopped at several spots without a bite then once we hit the magic place we picked up 6-12 reds up to 28 inches long.